The Wearing Sands of Time
by Pat Majaski
Summary: In an attempts to aid the Bronze Dragonflight against extinction, the troll shaman Tiji gathers her family of oddities and does battle within the Caverns of Time, with catastrophic consequences! Story is now Complete.
1. Introduction

_**The Wearing Sands of Time**_

Good morning. This is an introduction for the story titled "The Wearing Sands of Time". This is a story based upon events that have happened in _World of Warcraft_, not events that are from the official _WoW_ storyline, but events that have happened to these specific characters. As such, it is assumed that you, the reader, are at least somewhat familiar with these characters, so I will be giving a brief introduction for many of them below.

I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I did writing it.

-_Pat Majaski_

_Tiji of the Wind, Legionnaire of the Horde_

Originally of the Bloodscalp Trolls, Tiji was given her name due to her affinity with the elemental spirits of air, also leading Tiji to the path of a shaman. Sometimes interpreted as condescending, Tiji often takes the role of a matron and typically views those that she consorts with as her children rather than her peers. Because of this, since her time in joining with The Horde, Tiji has taken it upon herself to adopt many unusual people in to her own family, becoming as a mother to many of them. Such people include the Orcish twins Rhaka and Ghaku, the Ex-Lordaeron citizens Aesgar Reth and his wife Elusin, and the Tauren druid Rage Earthfury. Tiji wears her hair in long, red braided dreadlocks that reach down to her mid-back. She, unlike most shaman, dresses herself in cloth armor typically made for someone more pious than herself. Though previously serving in the armies of the Horde, Tiji is now (along with all of her "children") part of private forces group titled as _"Bloodrite"._

_Ghaku Ravenblade, Frostwolf Field General "The Bloody Prince":_

Ragged, scarred, and typically unwashed, Ghaku is not a man of class; he is a man of the battlefield. Short red hair that refuses to be tamed sticks from the top of Ghaku's head, and grows in an ironically (given the rest of his appearance) well-groomed beard at his chin. Tall, wide, and all around massive, Ghaku's figure is only enhanced by the layers of plate armor that cover him. A longtime field-general of the Horde's forces in Alterac Valley, Ghaku earned his title and his personality of cruelty from decades of battle and bloodshed. He serves the role of a protector however, not a destroyer.

_Rhaka Ravenblade, Agent of the Shattered Hand:_

Unlike her brother, Rhaka chose the role of an Assassin over that of a warrior. While her twin spent the years barking orders, Rhaka lurked in the shadows, gathering information and slitting throats for the more covert and sinister operations of the Horde. Taller than most orcs, Rhaka's golden eyes peak out from beneath rows of dark azure hair, she's been known to be quite the charming lady to those unaware of her malevolent profession.

_Aesgar Reth, Dead Man Walking:_

A court magician, before the fall of Lordaeron, Aesgar has long since forgotten his previous life and even his previous name after he embraced the plague of Undeath. Despite retaining some of his previous arcane abilities after rising from the grave, Aesgar has left that path in exchange for learning demon magic, and now is a warlock of frighteningly powerful proportions. Glowing yellow eyes glint from beneath his pointed purple wizard hat, death certainly not having robbed him of his sense of style. During his time amongst the fallen Undercity, the warlock was fortunate enough to romance and marry the unusual…

_Elusin, Seer:_

Unusual even for one that has been dead for several years, Elusin was a Lordaeron priestess of the light while alive, and has been a powerful priestess of the shadow ever since her death. Light turquoise hair arranged in a neat and proper fashion sits above glowing eyes of the same color, eyes that gaze in to worlds beyond seeing. Elusin is a woman that has visions of often a frightening nature, though the accuracy of said visions is uncertain. Not having slept in the seven years that she has been dead, Elusin claims that "Have you ever tried sleeping when you have no eyelids? Or even no eyes?!" She is thought by many to be quite insane.

_Rage Earthfury, Druid of the Claw:_

Tall, calm, collected, Rage is an icon of irony in reference to his given name. Though the Tauren sometimes works up quite the fury when his mind slips in to the depths of his Dire Bear form, he is otherwise the very semblance of balance and peace. As a fighter amongst his people, Rage typically resides within the grasslands of Nagrand, in an attempt to balance nature as best he can. He also enjoys hobbies such as fishing, cooking, leatherworking, and discussing philosophy with his fellow Horde.


	2. The Caverns Ch1

_**The Caverns**_

The tall, unkempt orc wandered through the Drag of Orgrimmar. A section of the war-city laced with back-alleys, buildings of dubious purpose, and many shady characters, all of them suspicious, he did not often come here without reason. Not that he was worried, there were few among the shadows that would think to bother the veritable tower of steel that was the orc warrior. The man's brown eyes scanned the crowd that seemed to be forming outside of one of the many shops that littered the city, looking for another, one specific person that was quite familiar to him. Ahh, there she was, golden eyes peeked out from underneath a beautiful row of dark azure hair (beautiful, that was, if you were an orc). Her eyes met his, and one winked softly at him as she strode towards the warrior. "A most enchanting presence that I have not felt in some time, good madam, I have truly missed it..." whispered the man in to her, motioning for her hand. The orc woman extended her dark green arm daintily, though clearly in an amused manner. He kissed it gently, before breaking out in a massive, knowing grin. Unable to take the silliness anymore, she rolled her eyes, breaking out in a boisterous laugh. "You're quite the joker, dear brother!" Rhaka said, winking to him. Ghaku joined her in laughter, linking his twin's arm with his, talking to his sister as he walked, his heavy armor resounding throughout the city, while her soft leather bindings made not a sound.

The pair ventured through to one of the more private areas of Orgrimmar, towards the ponds in the Valley of Spirits. In front of them was a path of stones across the shallow pool, rocks leading towards a small hut in which two members of the Horde resided. One, an aging orc with rough hands typical of his race, though rough not from years of battle, but mending, watched the other patiently. A tall, also aged, troll woman with long red braids carefully bound together bandages of excellent quality for her companion.  
"Ahh, most excellent, Netherweave, yes? Of course it is, with that glow..." the orc mused to himself. The troll did nothing but look up to smile politely in affirmation, her face lighting up with boundless joy as she noticed the twins approach. They were, after all, to her as her children. "Ya here'!" she exclaimed, "Good t'ing too, big plans today!". Ghaku embraced her tightly as Rhaka winked at her, "After you went on about how it was 'big mojo', of course we came, wouldn't miss it, Tiji..."

Her long, elegant, robes, uncharacteristic for a shaman such as herself, brushed softly against the wooded tower in which the trio stood. Their conversation was made somewhat difficult by the constant entry and exit of screeching windriders to and from various destinations throughout the continent.

"Dis'll be somewhat a long flight, dearies! I've been hearin' words in the wind from da Bronze Flight, so we be headin' to Ghaku's favorit' place on Kalimdor!" Tiji exclaimed with a wink and a smile, knowing that the warrior had very little love for the desert. He sighed, "It just had to be Tanaris... This had better be some damn life-threatening happenings for me to be going back to that place!" Ghaku wailed, jokingly.  
"More t'en you know, dearie..." Tiji whispered back, her aging lines showing in the blue-skinned beauty's worried face. Rhaka chatted a swift "Hello, Doras, back to Tanaris for us", to the wind-rider master, pressing only a few coins to his palm.

"Isn't that too..." Ghaku began, but the short, squat tower-master cut him off, "Shattered-Hand business," he said, eying the thin orc rogue woman, "Probably better if you don't tell me..." the short orc sighed. Doras the wind-rider master was used to that. The pair of twins couldn't help but wonder what Tiji had meant of the Bronze Flight, as they mounted the beasts and quickly were removed from the war-city. Drums beat in the background as the Horde in Orgrimmar marched about their day.

As the three sped across the plains of the Barrens, the crags of Thousand Needles, and even the shimmering salt flats, Ghaku's eyes were locked on the rider in front of him, on Tiji. The shaman's presence brought out the calmest corner of the warrior's soul, a part of him that was rarely otherwise evoked, and try as he might he always longed to be at her side. Their relationship was certainly not one of romantic love, however, the troll had served as a matronly role that he, and others that she took upon herself, had lacked. Seeing the sands below him rise up as the windrider descended in its flight, the warrior recast his thoughts to their journey. Still uncertain of anything in the Tanaris desert (or any other desert, as far as Ghaku was concerned) that was worth coming for. Fortunately for his twin, however, this presented Rhaka with the opportunity to mingle amongst some of her favorite people: the Goblins. Shrewd, typically dishonest, and every one of them greedy, goblins were beings that a rogue such as Rhaka could really fit in to (and also relieve of their worldly possessions if the opportunity presented itself). Her thought of doing such was suddenly interrupted by a loud, shrill, whistling sound from Tiji. Bounding forward, summoned by the magic that was contained in the shaman's whistle, was a great emerald green raptor, striking great contrast to the endless grays and tans that were the desert. The twins each brought out their own wooden whistle. In the distance could soon be heard the howling of wolves.

Soon arriving (and then departing at Ghaku's request) at the goblin city of Gadgetzan, the trio had scarcely left the walls in to the abyssal sands when a sudden whacking sound interrupted them. Try as he might to look around for it, Ghaku found that he could not and had in fact been knocked unconscious, with a large bruise now on the back of his head. Immediately upon hearing the intrusion, the smaller of the two orcs vanished in to the wind (as only rogues can do), leaving Tiji standing alone with the yet unseen opponent. A soft chuckling was heard as a lanky man emerged from the sand behind the shaman, gleeful at his fortune. Tiji sighed as the man spouted off some gibberish in the human tongue, but the smug look on his ugly face was enough to tell the woman his intentions. A swift strike from the mace that hung at her side was enough to remind him that the troll was a threat, and another glancing blow to the side of his head was more than enough to anger the human! He spat at her, quickly unsheathing the blades he wore and bearing them menacingly at her. Unfortunately, in his cockiness the man had forgotten the third member of the group, having snuck up behind him. Rhaka, being no stranger to the ego that was the human, grinned wickedly as her own blades sprung in to the man, tearing his clothes from his body! The human shrieked a most un-manly shriek, before running off stark naked in to the sands. Tiji let out a half-grunt half-chuckle, "Alliance... don't be takin' much to throw dem out!" The women winked at one another, each taking a turn to kick their unconscious comrade in the shins before re-mounting in to the desert.

A journey through the sands of Tanaris was neither pleasant nor forgiving, the trio lost themselves many times before sighting the rocky mountain in the distance.  
"I can't help but notice..." the warrior started, "that you've not told us where we're going..."  
Tiji gave the orc a look as if the answer should have been obvious, "Dere be two places in all of da desert I t'ink are worth going to..." the troll began, laughing, "One is da windrider to get out of here, and da other is da Caverns..." She gestured towards the opening in the mountains where, if the sand had not obscured it, they would have seen a cave entrance. What was not, however, covered from vision by the sand, were the ruins that held the caverns in embrace. Numerous buildings and ships littered the surrounding sands, all having been worn down by the sands of time, but all serving as a reminder of times past. "You've been here before, haven'tcha dearie? Or maybe you've been here later, as they would say..." the shaman chuckled at her own joke, which was obviously lost on the orcish twins. As they neared the entrance, figures previously unrecognizable now became apparent. "Ahh!" exclaimed the troll woman, "Da Bronze Dragonflight..."

"We had almost expected none to come," said a softly-spoken female, guiding the pair as they descended in to the Caverns of Time. Though she was currently in the guise of a Quel'dorei elf, she had identified herself as Alurmi, a member of the Bronze Flight. "Very perceptive..." she murmured.

"It's not me that brought us here, mon," Tiji replied, "da wind whispered in to my ear and da wind is what brought us to your door, we just be da ones who heard it first." the troll said with a bow. The elf smiled politely, gesturing further within the caverns, towards a glimmering purple rune circle in the distance, "Tiridormi will explain the situation, she waits shortly over there." Rhaka turned to ask the elf what exactly the situation was, but she had already vanished. Clearly she not amused that someone else could pull that off too, Rhaka ran after the others who had already set off towards the rune circle.

"Helloooo?" Ghaku called out, standing amidst the floating rune circle. Unintelligible words shaded with a violet tinge slowly rotated in the air, their purpose unknown to all but their creators.

"Good morning," echoed a female voice, seemingly coming from nowhere. Then, out of the circle emerged a massive draconic form, quickly taking the shape of a Bronze Dragon. "I am Tiridormi, I understand that you'd like to help, hmm?" came the unseeming humanoid voice, it sounded odd coming from a being of her type.   
"You're awfully eloquent for a beast of your size," Ghaku stated, quirking an eyebrow towards the dragon.

"And you're awfully chatty for one of your kind," she replied, classily, scanning her eyes across the group. When the Bronze reached Tiji, her eyebrows raised in question, but the shaman hadn't noticed.

"So," began the troll, "what be happenin' in da caverns thats oh-so-important?"  
"Oh, just your entire past, present and future... And, of course, the interference of the so-called 'Infinite Dragonflight'." The she-dragon stared intently at the shaman as she talked.  
"Could you be a bit more ominous and a bit less specific, maybe?" Rhaka cut in sarcastically, wanting to get to the point.

The dragon winked, "Just for you, dear, I'll do just that. Apparently no longer content to disrupt the chain of events that culminate your history, the Infinite have taken a somewhat more militaristic approach and have been raiding the Caverns, in an attempt to allow them to rampage throughout this world's past unhindered. We, the Bronze Flight, are of course proud fighters and would battle them to the last, which is exactly why they would not suspect us to be aided by the mortal races of Azeroth. We need _you_." The dragon continued to stare at Tiji as she rattled on of the Infinite.  
"A'right den, we just need to... Why you starin' at me? Does Tiji know ya?"  
"Not yet." replied the Tiridormi, mysterious as dragons come, "Though I suspect you will..."

The Bronze began to pace towards one of the various tunnels within the Caverns of Time, motioning for the trio to follow along. Abruptly, Tiridormi ceased in her path, before speaking "Oh dear, it seems they're here already... or is it here still? I can never tell." Gesturing forwards, the group saw a shimmering green portal, surrounded by trees and, of all things, a moonwell. Out from the gateway screamed many dark figures, howling as they emerged towards the group. Unlike any other dragonflight, the Infinite were truly an enigma. Seemingly made of shadows and silver, the beasts could be traced to no single dragonflight with certainty, even the nefarious black dragons were unlike them in appearance. As such, little was known of their motives and methods, they were a difficult enemy to combat. And yet, here they came, pouring out of places unknown, a dozen of them charged at the small group of Horde. _Spirit of Earth..._ Tiji whispered to the ground, _We ask you not for ourselves, but for our people, aid us in this conflict!_ An experienced and aged shaman, Tiji was rarely met with denial when she called the elemental spirits. The sand began to rumble and shift, as in front of the charging line of enemies it rose up to create the hardiest of barriers! It slowed them, though for only a moment, even the sand could not hold them back. Already charging to meet them, Ghaku drew his blazing King's Defender, striking boldly at his draconic foe. A number of them charged the rogue outright, striking her with surprise, knocking her to the ground. Jabbing with their shadowy weapons, Rhaka's eyes grew wide as she vanished in smoke, her nemesis striking naught but the earth.

"They don't even bleed?!" the warrior cried as he sliced one apart, angry that the dragon would deny him the satisfaction of being awash in its life essence. _Spirit of Wind, I call for you! Do not allow these fiends to roam unchallenged, the other elements have need of your aid!_ whispered the shaman to the air. A sudden breath intake could be heard, but from the opposing Infinite Dragons, not the air. The beastie began to breath fire upon the advancing orc warrior! The air began to shift however, at first with a gentle breeze but it soon developed in to a raging wind, forcing the flaming breath to retreat back upon its creator, scorching its body. The dragon screamed in its own draconic tongue, screamed until it no longer had breath with which to expel, until it ceased to live. The remaining Infinite, having not expected such resistance, wailed in their language, one of the largest among them pointing a shadowy hand at the troll shaman. It gurgled with unknown words, but the Bronze Dragon among them understood. Tiridormi sighed, "I had hoped that was not this day..." The Infinite regrouped themselves, dividing in to three groups. Many of them tackled Ghaku with unexpected force, pinning the behemoth of steel that was Ghaku to the ground. Several of the others descended upon his twin, who had been driving the attackers off of Tiji. One seized the rogue, shoving her towards the group, the others pushing her around like a rag doll. Finally, the remaining draconic invaders launched at the troll shaman, taking her in their shadow grip, attempting to drag her from whence they came. _Spirit of Fire!_ Tiji willed to herself, _We have need of you! Burn these would-be defilers, so that we may continue to live in peace!_ Fire, however, did not answer her call.

Shocked, Tiji struggled against her captors as they carried her towards the shimmering verdant portal. Behind her, Ghaku shoved apart his own attackers, even numerous of the powerful beings could not hold still his fury. Withdrawing the pair of axes from his sides, his typical sword having been torn from his grip, Ghaku began his retaliation against the Infinite. Axes flew as his eyes glowed with bloodlust, piercing the throats and hides of his would-be opponents until none were left to defy him or his twin. "Hm, I remember there being more of them..." he pondered to Rhaka. The rogue suddenly looked around in a panic, "Where is she?"

"I'm right here... oh you meant the troll." said Tiridormi, most unhelpfully. But it was too late, the remaining dragonkin had vacated the area, the orcs' mother in tow.

A quick explanation to where the Infinite Dragonflight had taken Tiji soon resulted in Ghaku flinging himself against the portal. "Why will you not allow me entry!" the warrior shrieked. Tiridormi slowly approached behind him, "Even we cannot enter that timeline, Ghaku. We are not, for lack of better term, 'attuned' to that path of time. The Infinite, however, are. That is why they have been able to take her." Rhaka gazed questioningly at the dragon, "Where? Where is it so laced with protection that even you cannot enter? Where is my mother!" Tiridormi answered slowly, the pain was obvious in her voice, "The never-ending battle, where the Legion will make war with the mortal races forever until the timeline is restored to its natural state. She is trapped in the Battle of Hyjal."


	3. Winterchill Ch2

_**Winterchill**_

Armies marched as cities burned around her, men in steel surrounded her. The troll woman couldn't help but hide behind a nearby house as she tried to understand the situation. The last thing the shaman had remembered was being dragged away from her kin towards a shimmering mass, and then nothing. Blackness. Green hills and flourishing trees littered the area, and Tiji suspected that it would have been a pleasant place if it weren't also the middle of a war zone. She peeked around the corner, it was apparent that Tiji was in some Alliance war camp, though who they were fighting was still uncertain. The troll sighed, almost certain that it was the Horde the humans were battling. "Hey! You!" called out an armored man atop a great steed. Tiji raised her mace in defiance, "We need you at the front! This is no time to be hiding!" shouted the knight (as surely he must have been a knight) before riding down the hill path.

Slowly becoming aware that it was not these men she was against, the Troll crept out from her hiding place to view the area. Tiji had raided enough Alliance encampments in her time with the Horde armies to recognize the buildings. Several blacksmiths and stables behind the great stone wall only made one thing certain, they were under assault. This was soon confirmed by the sudden rushing of soldiers; more than a dozen footmen came running down the road, rattling in their heavy armor. The group stopped briefly at a nearby tower along the path, saluting to some yet-unseen figure, before continuing on towards the gate. As the shaman continued down the road, the figure came in to view. She was a tall, robed woman clutching a jeweled staff, with a clear aura of magic around her. Tiji had seen this woman before somewhere, but she couldn't quite place it. Every now and then, the sorceress would call out something to the Alliance forces at the gate, telling them to hold the line and not allow the attackers through. Then, she turned and pointed at Tiji.

The blue-skinned beauty felt very out of place amongst the Alliance forces, and though there was certainly none other of the Horde to be seen, it was evident that they were not at an impasse with each other here. "Shaman!" called out the sorceress, "To the front! Another line will soon becoming and the men could certainly use the aid of the elements!" Tiji looked around nervously, not quite sure what to say. "Uh, t'is may sound a bit odd… but I be havin' no idea what you're talking about." The woman quirked an eyebrow at the shaman, "You're right, that is odd. What's going to be even odder is when I have to explain to Thrall that one of his own people is lost on the damn field of battle! The Horde encampment is just up the path, but we need your help here if we're to hold the line long enough!" Not knowing what else to do, Tiji nodded and began down the path to the gate. "I just hope we'll make it that far…" the mage sighed.

It was very unusual for the shaman to be doing what was asked of her, but she tried with all her will to channel the elements to aid these humans. She asked the spirit of water to heal the wounds of the injured, she asked the spirit of earth to help repair the wall, and she asked the spirit of air to bring word of what enemies were to come. Tiji did not, however, call upon the spirit of fire.

The men around her gasped as she approached, they too were not used to working, much less fighting alongside a troll such as herself. Tiji smiled, thinking of how only earlier that day she had fought against one such human, in the sands of Tanaris. The soldiers nodded at her, then went to resume guarding the gate. A piercing scream filled the air, and the answer to Tiji's unspoken question of the identity of their enemy was answered. A gaggle of ghouls howled as they bolted through the gateway, flesh hanging loosely from their bloodied skin. A terrifying sight if she had ever seen one, the troll was momentarily stunned by the sight of the corpse-devouring horrors in front of her. One of the ghouls advanced upon her, its bleeding claws threatening to end her.

A rallying battle cry filled the air, as the cavalry entered the battle, one barreling its horse in to the zombie attacking Tiji, the knight's longsword piercing its mangled body. Severed at the torso, the ghoul stared down in surprise as it was bisected. As it struck the ground, the ghoulish fiend lay motionless; just another terror to be silenced that day. The air around them whistled as arrows flew from several directions, penetrating through the zombies. Looking around her for the source of the missiles, the shaman spotted several figures within the shadows of the surrounding hills and trees. "Night elves…?" she pondered to herself.

Gazing around, Tiji noticed that all races of the Alliance were present, save for the relatively recent addition of the foreign Draenei. The more the troll thought about it, she could not place exactly where they were. It certainly was no where in Azeroth that she recognized, and it was not nearly alien enough to be a part of the Outlands. "It almost looks like Felwood, without the taint…" she though to herself. And then she realized just exactly where, or rather 'when', she was. The shaman swore loudly enough for every scourge in the area to hear it, and profane enough for any soldier in the vicinity to blush. Before she was able to digest this recent discovery, though, a new line of scourge had charged the front lines.

The first wave of attackers now seemed rather tame and pathetic compared to what was now advancing upon the Alliance encampment. Massive emerald-green beings lumbered through the walls, the sight of them was nearly as grotesque as the stench. Having been literally sewn together from several other corpses, these abominations were the driving force of the Scourge attack forces. Many carried makeshift clubs of massive sizes; others just used gargantuan hooks similar to those used by butchers to hang meat. All of them were as deadly as they were hideous, which is to say incredibly so. _Spirit of Earth, we have need of you in this conflict more than ever!_ The shaman whispered to herself, only hoping that the elements could come to her support. It was fortunate that the shaman was one of the favored children of the forces of nature, soon the massive roots that ran below the ground sprung forth to grasp the damned that walked the earth.

The abominations' head twitched, trying to comprehend why its legs weren't working, and trying even harder to understand why it was becoming a pincushion for the many projectiles that were piercing its body. The arrows may as well have been gnats for all the good they did, though, the enormous monstrosity was unwavering in its assault, and it broke through the powerful roots that held it. Tiji always had more tricks, and was charging one of them in her hands right at that very moment. Letting loose that power with all the fury that the troll could muster, a great bolt of lightning flew forth from the shaman and erupted the Abomination's cranium quite explosively.

The cheering from the footmen was short lived, though, as more and more Abominations shambled through the gateway. Archers and riflemen took their positions on the hills, as the knights and foot soldiers rushed in, hoping to survive the coming conflict. Any time a corpse would fall, though, something worse would always take its place. A skeletal crypt fiend here, a banshee or a necromancer there, there were many foes to combat. The men around her surely would have fallen long ago, but Tiji was a vigilant battle-healer, healing them with all the power she had. The blue-skinned beauty smiled a private smile. Though she certainly understood that not all humans or elves or dwarves were her enemy, some were even her friends, she had rarely before seen reason to fight alongside the Alliance as she had that day, and the shaman had sent more than her share of them to the spirit world.

It became unusually silent. For a moment, Tiji had almost thought the assault to be finished, though the warrior in her knew that the scourge would never cease, not so soon. The soldiers around her sheathed their weapons for a moment, as if suspecting the same thing. But it was never, truly over. A terrible voice resounded throughout the camp, a voice that neither human nor elf could make. The howl was shrill, skeletal, and it chilled Tiji to the bone. A massive robed figure floated down the road in the distance, chains stretching across several parts of its corpse-like body. Elongated spider-like claws erupted from the amethyst robes, all of them frostbitten.

The protecting walls immediately in front of Tiji began to crack and crumble as icicles spread across them, and then with a massive shatter they were destroyed, allowing the gargantuan Liches form entry to the encampment. His breath was as frost and his grip was chilling.

"_**The Legion's final conquest has begun! Once again the subjugation of this world is within our grasp. Let NONE SURVIVE!"**_


	4. The Ritual Ch3

_**The Ritual**_

The warrior paced impatiently across the underground sands, gazing down upon the frail elven forms in the distance. He knew, of course, that these were not typical Elves at all, but in fact Bronze Dragons in a humanoid guise. "Though I am unable to access the Hyjal timeline," a deep voice began behind him, "if there were one among us that could, it would be Soridormi, consort of the Timeless One." Ghaku grunted as a notice that he understood. His eyes still red with battle lust, the orc's rage had not calmed since the disappearance of the troll shaman that he held so dear. The slightly smaller orcish form behind him was characteristically silent after the previous events, her mind calculating a hundred plans, each of them more desperate than the last. Rhaka sighed, only wishing that it was nearly as simple most of her assignments of assassination. Transcending space and time to a specific point which was already under heavy duress, however, was typically anything but simple.

Light blue eyes observed the warrior quizzically as he approached. "You're not supposed to be here," she began, bluntly. Ghaku's face had become none the less angry and became more furious still at this. "I am not! But neither was she!" he cried out. Soridormi tilted her head to the side, as if asking a question. "Ahh, your 'mother', you're right, none of this was supposed to have happened." Behind the two, Tiridormi began to say something quietly, in if to disagree, but quickly stopped herself. "Of course, now that it _has_ happened, there is something we can do," said the consort of Nozdormu, "though it will be anything but undemanding of the both of you," pointing at the orcish twins. It always was as such for the warrior and the rogue. The pair nodded. "Are you two familiar with the Vials of Eternity?"

* * *

The man's bones jingled as if to a merry tune as he strolled through the dark, dying land of Tirisfal. A tall, pointed purple hat sat calmly atop his skull as the corpse hummed quietly to himself, he could have been seen as almost cheerful if his face had not frozen in to an unusual frown upon his rising from the grave, many years previous. Demonic hounds and malevolent zombies wandered throughout the forest lands that surrounded the man, though few were foolish enough to assault the dead man walking. "Ah, here comes one now…" he whispered to a small figure walking behind him. A howling pierced the air as a brutish red hound bounded up the path towards the man. A short, squat, oddly shaped being hopped up in front of its companion, the man with the pointy hat, and began to cackle as its hands filled with flame. The hound had barely reached the pair when fire erupted from the giggling person, incinerating the malicious dog to a crisp. "Well done, Dagrot," the undead man said, clapping softly for his Imp minion. Dagrot grinned wickedly, as imps were wont to do when they had performed particularly cruelly. Resuming the slow walk, the two continued on in to the hamlet village of Brill.

The once boisterous human populations, the inhabitants of Brill, were a sour, bitter lot. Most of them having quite lost their sense of humor and much of their personality after their unfortunate death to the plague of the damned, it was understandable that the citizens of Brill were not the most cheerful people. The warlock, however, had lost neither and considered himself more alive than he had ever been. As he calmly strolled in to the inn, all eyes turned upon him. The warlock quirked an eyebrow as if to challenge their stares (which nobody saw, of course, because the hat covered it, but that never stopped him) until the bar patrons turned back to their sorry drinking. A coughing sound from the entrance caused the dead man to turn around, coming face to face with a Forsaken Deathstalker. "Message for Aesgar Reth," the Deathstalker stated plainly, handing the warlock a worn, used envelope with an unusual signet formed on it. Aesgar didn't need to open the letter; he knew who had sent it. He sighed, "I'd hoped we'd have a chance to stay, Dagrot. Back to Lordaeron we go, the wife will probably have gotten the letter too…" Elsewhere, in the grassy foothills of the Orcish homeland of Nagrand, a great beast of a Tauren sat calmly, speaking to the wind and the earth as it would listen. A diminutive windroc flew up beside the druid, an envelope far too big for the tiny bird to carry in its beak. The tauren's eyes grew stormy and concentrated as his massive, black-furred hands opened the missive. Nodding at what he read the druid jumped in to the winds, already becoming a great, brown crow in flight.

The woman fidgeted impatiently. Light turquoise hair was tied in a neat bundle at the top of her head above the pale almost-white skin that was the rest of her body. Where there would typically be eyes was instead a pair of green glowing lights. Her priest's robes brushed against the stone of the Lordaeron courtyard. Once a pleasant place that signaled the entrance in to the formerly great kingdom of humans, the courtyard was now just as dead as the inhabitants of the city that grew beneath the earth of Lordaeron. Hearing what might have been the approach of another, the woman's head snapped over to the source of the noise. No, it was just another one of her visions, she determined. Then the real sound came, the heavy jingling and crashing of massive plate armor could be audibly heard from a great distance, and the woman knew that this was who she was waiting for. "Of course they'll be here, brother, how could they not be just as worried?" a woman's voice quietly echoed through the courtyard. Coming in to sight was the largest pair of orcs that the woman had ever seen.

Eyes open wide (probably because she had no eyelids with which to close them) the woman waved frantically at the pair. Rhaka smiled at her, "Elusin! Is your corpse husband here as well?" the rogue asked. The priest shook her head to disagree. "He's probably bringing the cow in…" came Ghaku's rumbling voice, gazing upon the smaller woman. "Elusin. You look less… dead… than I remember. Still just as crazy though." "And you're still just as ugly as I remember!" returned the undead woman, speaking for the first time. The warrior stroked his well-groomed beard, as if to say that he believed himself to be anything but unattractive. A soft jingling accompanied heavy footsteps coming in through the gateway, and soon Aesgar and his druid companion appeared in the courtyard. "Why hello there," began the dead man walking. Rhaka waved cheerily at the Tauren, "Rage!" she exclaimed, trying to reach her arms around the massive form in a bear hug. Rage Earthfury grinned, he'd always had a soft spot for the tiny (tiny to him, at least) rogue. "I hate to interrupt the merrymaking and jovial conversation, you know me, but I do believe we have some business…" rattled Aesgar's skeletal voice.

"Lost… back in time? And you people think I'm crazy…" Elusin said, interrupting Ghaku's retelling of the events that had gathered them. Taking a moment to stare down the dead woman, jade warrior resumed his story. "The Vials of Eternity, hmm." Rage pondered out loud, "This is known to me. Each vial holds within it a part of the Well of Eternity, the Well which was fractured at the battle of Hyjal. An artifact, each one of them, I can't imagine where we would find such objects." Rhaka coughed uncomfortably, all eyes upon her, "We do. But it is bad."

Elusin couldn't help but laugh out loud at what the rogue told her. "Oh, so that's it, is it? Just stroll in to meet Illidan's lieutenants and ask them to give up their most valued possessions! I haven't slept in seven years, and even my head is clear enough to know what insanity this is!" Her husband, though, said nothing, quietly thinking to himself. "It is the only way to enter the cruel battle where our mother is trapped, the only way!" Ghaku rumbled to her. "I don't believe this is a sound course of action, there must be another," calmly said the Tauren Druid, choosing his word slowly and carefully, "If we try and fail to retrieve said artifacts, then we have given up any chance of extracting Tiji from that ordeal." This arguing continued for quite some time. "Bloodrite," Ghaku exclaimed, "we'll use the armed forces to assault the Tempest Keep and the Naga's cavern!" But his twin shook her head, "They've devoted their attention to storming the Black Temple, they cannot spare a soldier at this time Ghaku."

Suddenly, the warlock raised his head from his thinking, "This one, the dragon." The others clearly had no idea what he was referring to, "Tiridormi, this one is unknown to me." Ghaku stared at him, "All of the Bronze are all mysterious and whatnot, of course she's unknown…" but Aesgar cut him off, "I have spent considerable time among the Caverns of Time, my friend, and this one is unusual even among her flight, from what you have told me." Rhaka sighed, "What's that have to do with any of this? We need to get those vials if we're to accomplish anything!" Aesgar's typically morose face was alighting with a grin, "No. I do not believe we do." The other four could do nothing but stare at the dead man. Aesgar quirked an eyebrow slyly, though of course nobody could see it beneath his pointed hat.

"As you know, I have delved deeply in to the magics of the Damned, and among these is the practice of summoning, something which I am quite proficient in," began the warlock. But Rage cut him off, "What, are you going to _summon_ the Vials?" Aesgar grinned, "No, that would bring their holders along with them," seeing the stricken look from his companions, "Not that I doubt I could accomplish something of that magnitude, that was not my plan. The Infinite Dragonflight needed no such vials to enter through the doorway to Hyjal, yes? Then we shall do as they did." Ghaku bowed his head, his previous rage abating, "What do we do?" The warlock gazed fondly at his wife, "A seer, among other things. Yes, there is much we will need for the Summoning Ritual…"


	5. Demons I hate Demons Ch4

_**Demons. I hate Demons.**_

Howling wind emanated from the screaming Lich, chilling the shaman to the bone. The gargantuan skeletal figure had smashed through the walls that protected the Alliance encampment in Hyjal, and now floated down the path in to the heart of the fortifications. The remaining soldiers, the ones that had not been cut down and raised shortly thereafter as undead warriors, had retreated further behind the front lines, to the safety of the mage's tower shortly within the camp. The head of the Alliance forces, the tall fair-haired sorcerer woman, was shouting to be heard over the chaos that followed in the Lich's wake, the soldiers were determined to flee in the face of this new terror. Among the few that stood their ground was the fiery troll woman, her mace and shield raised before her.

"_**All life MUST PERISH!**_" cried out the skeletal monstrosity, icicles forming in his deformed knife-like hands. Frost erupted from his grip towards the soldiers, freezing them in their place. Many among them were immediately trapped in the icy block that enveloped them, and with a wave of the Lich's tortuous arm they were shattered, blood, bodies and ice were scattered in every direction. The footmen left behind were not pleased with the situation, but yet they still rallied alongside the shaman, fire in her eyes. Tiji would have gladly faced the challenge any day; she only wished that it was her own family that she fought alongside. They weren't here, not this day, but the elements still remained, and that was the strength that the woman needed.

Quickly withdrawing one of the rune-covered sticks from her side, Tiji cast it in to the earth, the glowing wood quickly taking the form of a shamanistic totem. The totem exploded with flames, shooting miniature fireballs towards the monstrous form that assaulted the shaman. The Lich shrugged off these gnat-like attacks, instead seizing one of the footmen with his claws, cackling coldly as he dangled the human from his spider-like limbs. Shouting furiously, the man attempted to remove the armor with which the fiend was holding him, but there was not enough time. Gripping the soldier's plated torso in his other hand, the Lich hissed as he mercilessly tore the human in to pieces, much to the horror of all those that still stood.

The air burned around Tiji as a massive fiery bolder erupted from behind her, striking the Lich quite explosively, taking it by surprise. Fury in her eyes, the imposing sorceress commanded her magical powers as well as her troops, which were now rallying in front of her. The mounted knights valiantly charged the immense skeleton, striking him with their seemingly miniscule weapons. The megalomaniac sneered at the approaching forces twisting his gaunt hand in to arcane runes in the sky. Acidic droplets of burning red blood descended from the air, searing all those that it touched. "_**Ashes to ashes…**_" began the Lich, screaming horrifically, watching as the knights that neared him started to howl with pain as their flesh was scorched and destroyed, "_**Dust to dust!**_" he finished. The sorceress cried out from behind them, "No!" but she could do nothing to heal them.

Tiji's eyes were closed, her concentrated face muttering unheard words in to the wind. Placing her hands upon the nearest dying soldier, she called for water to give life to these men. Energy bounded forth from the knight, reaching forth towards his nearest comrades. Purity was restored to the tortured limbs of the fallen. "Even you cannot bring an end to death itself…" one of them hissed as his health returned to him. "No," Tiji shook her head slowly, "but that won't stop us from fightin' it." The knight nodded, seeing the determination in the troll's eyes, returning to the fight. "Some t'ings…" she whispered as he left, "are just worth fightin' for." The screams of the battlefield brought Tiji back from her thoughts. Death still reigned on the front line, but she would not allow it to continue its path.

Throwing many more of her totemic staves in to the ground as she ran, they lit up with flames, igniting the path as Tiji neared the Lich. Forming many of the magical sticks in to an unusual rune-covered spear, the shaman whispered to herself, _Fire, walk with me!_ Still, fire did not answer her call. The Lich bounded forward with frightening speed towards the troll, his menacing claws crashing down upon her. Warding off his skeletal grip with her spear, Tiji knocked away his attack, striking boldly with one of her own. The fiend howled as the shaman pierced his own icy arm, flinging bullets of frost at her with his uninjured hand. A similar volley of fireballs erupted from the earth towards the skeletal terror, coming from the many totems scattered throughout the Alliance camp, aggravating him further still! Ignoring the pain of his wounded arm, the Lich seized the much smaller troll in his frost-bitten clutch, raising her towards his horrific, pale visage. _Fire! Walk with me!_ She called again to the elements. This time, fire answered, and Tiji's rune-covered spear became elongated and surged with flame.

With her newly-empowered weapon, the shaman broke free of her captor's grasp and shattered his already fractured arm with a powerful thrust of the flaming spear. Screams of suffering replaced those of assault as the Lich recoiled with the sudden realization of his own mortality. Standing upon her enemy's massive shoulder, Tiji's countenance was now the cold one, her eyes were as flames as her viciousness terrified the monstrosity that was the Lich. "Death itself…" Tiji muttered to him, driving the powerful element-infused lance into his once fearsome skull, "I'm not impressed!" she finished as she tore apart the former master of the unliving. Rage Winterchill, once a general of the Scourge, crumbled to the ground; the troll deftly hopped off his form as it cracked and fell apart.

Slowly sauntering up to the troll was the tall sorceress commander, of the Alliance forces. "Had I know Thrall would be sending someone of your kind… I wouldn't have sent so many men to the ranks of the Scourge. Felling the Lich alone…" but Tiji cut her off, "I did na' do it alone. None of us be alone, Tiji least of all," the shaman walked past her, "da spirits walk with me…" Nodding, the mage woman called out to the remaining human forces, "We have won valuable time, but now we must pull back!" They cheered, but all of them knew the battle had been won only for the moment. Rattling armor and whinnying horses soon filled the air as the Alliance troops sped off up the mountain pass behind the encampment. Tiji looked questioningly at the sorceress; she was already channeling great arcane energy. Suddenly, the human woman's arm shot out, grabbing Tiji as the spell finished, both of them disappearing before the oncoming onslaught. Bloody ghouls and towering abominations burst through the already decimated walls, finding nothing but an empty fortress. The wailing screams of the dead could be heard for miles. Behind them, a truly gargantuan grey-skinned giant approached the gates, his bronze armor glinting in the setting sun. The colossal being raised his head to the sky as he let out a howl that was heard throughout the world, "_**Tremble mortals, and despair! Doom has come to this world!**_"

* * *

Miles away, further up the massive peak of Hyjal, an immense orc with braided black hair hung his head down, hoping for more to aid him against the terror that was now ascending the mountain pass. A flash of light surprised the warriors around him; Tauren, Troll, and Orc alike were momentarily stunned as two figures appeared in the middle of the war-camp. "I hope we're not late, Thrall," stated the worried fair-haired woman, waving at the enormous orc shaman. The warchief grinned, "No, Jaina, you're right on time. Who is this?" spoke Thrall as he eyed the blue-skinned beauty curiously. Lady Jaina Proudmoore didn't quite know what to say, leaning in to whisper to the orcish warchief, "I thought you sent her! She tore apart a Scourge general!" Thrall gazed upon Tiji once more, bowing slightly before her. The troll gasped, and quickly kneeled before him. "Warchief!" she exclaimed with a salute. "Rise, shaman, we have no time for such formalities. Though I wish we did, there is much to talk about, if you are not too drained from your previous battle, we could all use your help. It would be quite catastrophic if the Legion is allowed access to the Well of Eternity, and we are not going to let them!" The troll nodded, and alongside her warchief, the two sped off towards the front of the Horde Encampment.

Though certainly glad to be back among her own people, Tiji could not help but worry. She was familiar with the events of the Battle of Hyjal, though reliving it was something entirely different. The Burning Legion had come to destroy this world, a nigh-unstoppable force of demonic creatures. Even amidst the Horde, Tiji felt solitary, alone. Unfortunately, there was no time for such thoughts. The shouting of an orc warrior brought her attention to the mountain path before her. Rushing up the path were yet more enemies to be fought. It surprised her that mortals would stoop to that level of evil, for in the middle of the demonic legion came shadowy warlocks, fiendish runes covered their twisted faces. Ghostly banshees served as the consorts of the coming malevolent forces, these long-dead elven women could silence and even kill with a scream. Almost the worst among these new terrors were the fel hounds, mutated crimson beasts that sought out and devoured magical energy; they were feared by all those that harness the arcane and elemental forces.

Sighing, the troll muttered quietly to herself in the face of the incoming onslaught, "Demons. I hate demons."


	6. MANY WELPS Side Chapter

_**Author's Note: This side-story was actually written quite a while before the other chapters of "The Wearing Sands of Time", but it fits in along that story line. This is mainly just a goof side-chapter, none of these characters (with the obvious exception of Ghaku) will be re-occurring, so don't feel bad if you have no idea who they are. Enjoy!  
**_

_**MANY WHELPS!**_

The orc smiled a wicked, knowing smile. A smile that spoke to the world "I'm going to be covered in blood by the end of the day if I have to kill every elf in Kalimdor to do it!" He was Ghaku, the Bloody Prince, a man of with a title earned through cruelty and warfare. Though his battle plans for the day were made on a drunken bet, he took them as seriously as he would any battle...

"Bogorne that's the goddamn shtupidest thing I've ever heard!" Ghaku spoke, as sober as he was classy (that is to say not at all), "I don't care how strong you are, it'll take more than the two of us to slap around the bitch that is Onyxia in her own lair!" The tauren giggled (in a manly way, he would later insist) at Ghaku's ramblings, reminding Ghaku that they were a part of the mightiest group of fighters the Horde had to offer, "Whatever, Ghaku, I'm shure we can fool some people from the guild in to helping us..." Bogorne shouted to be heard over the madhouse that was the Drunken Kodo tavern in Ratchet. Ghaku nodded, almost dropping his skin of ale in the process, "Okay Mr. Cow, if you can find ush a solid group of good hordies, I'll go on your silly dragon hunt!" Bogorne winked slyly at the orc before shouting out across the bar, "OI! FAIRBANKS!" much to the surprise of half-naked corpse in the corner, who was taking off his pants in his drunken slumber. "Wha?" yelped the high-pitched Forsaken priest. Fairbanks, who unfortunately did not have time to fully awaken himself before he was rudely kick in the shins by a very large very drunk Tauren, "Get up, we're going to the marsh!" cackled Bogorne. "The marsh of booze and where I get a decent hour of sleep?" shrieked the corpse. "No." Ghaku replied shortly, delivering another sharp kick to Fairbanks before dragging him arms-first out of the smelly goblin tavern.

"Damn undead, makin' me drag them everywhere... crying like women..." Ghaku grumbled as he carted Fairbanks to the Ratchet docks. "I mean really... who screams like th-AIEEE!" shrieked Ghaku in a most un-orc-like manner, coming to a halt before the pale unmoving visage that was the face of Gronck, his brother in arms. "Damn rogues. Comin' out of nowhere like that..." grumbled the red-faced orc, blushing in the face of his friend's smirking grin. "Did I... scare you?" Gronck whispered in Ghaku's ear, winking slyly, "Where are you three off to, all dressed up with someone to kill? he spoke softly. "Gronck!" joyously yelled Bogorne, "its dragon hunting time! Get the crew, yer coming!" Gronck nodded, before slipping back in to the shadows. "Dustwallow!" cried out Bogorne in to the darkness where the rogue had vanished. "Got it covered." the tauren said smugly at Ghaku, slinging the unconscious priest over his back. "To the marsh, then!" Ghaku exclaimed, taking off at a job towards Dustwallow Marsh, his sword clanging against his waist at every step. The orc smiled a wicked, knowing smile.

"This place is creepy!" wailed Fairbanks, still hung over Bogorne's shoulder. "What!" yelled Ghaku, "You see people die every day, you create plagues that kill most of them, and to you a few spiders and puddles is CREEPY?" the orc sighed at his skeletal friend. "Where're Gronck and the crew meeting us, Bog?" Ghaku asked, feeling too sober for his own liking. The druid looked around mischievously, squinting his eyes at the darkness that enveloped the marsh, then shrugged. "Who knows." As the trio neared the entrance to the bitch queen's cave, the smell of brimstone and fire became stronger. "Reminds me of home..." Ghaku mused softly to himself. The jagged teeth of Onyxia's lair peeked out in the distance, fire erupting from the mouth. "Oh good, that means she's in." Bogorne laughed, "Only a few dozen dragonkin between us and her, at least." he said, noting the black dragons roaming the area, "They probably won't even bother us, they're pretty small..." but it was no use, Ghaku was already charging towards one of the beasties, his sparkling King's Defender poised to attack, "TIME for FUN!" the Orc yelled.

Gronck gazed quizzically at his blood brother. "What?" Ghaku asked, "is there something on my face?" laughed the warrior, aware of the large quantities of black blood that stained every part of his body. "So why do they call you the 'Bloody Prince'?" Gronck asked sarcastically, "Anyway, I've 'borrowed' a summoning stone from Deekon, I'm sure he won't miss it. We've got a few pyromaniacs among others waiting for us." Gronck said, leading the other three towards the stone. A short while later the air was filled with the sounds of chattering mages and warriors. Unotos grunted at the others as he arrived, "Killing time, is it?" murmured the tauren. The mages Shambler and Smoldersoul chatted excitedly with one another, discussing how to best explode dragons. The Blood Knight, Fellina, sauntered up from the stone, standing on her toes to peck a kiss on the orc's cheek. "And a good day to you, madam." Ghaku replied with a wink. The motley crew strolled in to the dragon's lair, taking a slightly more serious tone as they readied for the battle ahead.

"Security has been tightened since our last visit!" exclaimed the warrior, trying to hold off two of the massive Onyxian Warders that guarded the lair. Ghaku shouted obscenities that would make a Blood-Elf hooker blush as he slammed his shield in to the draconic guardian's stomach, grabbing its attention. "See how YOU like it!" the green skinned man yelled, his Defender blazing with speed. Ghaku jabbed his sword repeatedly in to the scaled beast's midsection, long after it ceased to live, shouting still. The other guardian, unmolested, made its way towards the small form of the Elven Paladin, knocking her down. Fellina's eyes went wide as she immediately shielded herself with her divine power, rendering the dragon's attacks futile. "Ghaku!" she cried out. Luckily, Gronck in his vigilance was shortly behind the behemoth that was assaulting his companion, bisecting the creature with his newly acquired artifact, the Talon of Azshara. The blade hummed as it pierced scale, skin and bone alike, followed by an unpleasant slurping sound as the dragon literally fell to pieces. "That was closssse..." hissed the forsaken mage, Smoldersoul. "Wouldn't want to losssse that one..." With most of his lower-jaw missing, the pyromaniac spoke seldom if ever. Ghaku sighed as he marched further in to the lair, "She survived..."

Bogorne giggled in a most un-tauren-like manner (though there was much more about him that was unusual), "There's the bitch!" he whispered to the group, pointing to the largest cavern within the cave. Housed in this massive mountain were the rows upon rows of black dragon eggs, just waiting for one unfortunate soul to break them all. In the middle of the scorched dome was the queen Onyxia herself. The dragon cocked one eye open, a slight smile spreading across her gargantuan face. "Ahh, how fortuitous, usually I must leave my lair in order to feed!" resonated a deep voice throughout the mountain, as the behemoth of a dragon rose towards the group. "Okay, listen the fuck up!" shouted Bogorne. Whatever the tauren said next was never heard over rumbling as Onyxia bounded towards them across the cavern. Removing one of the plethora of weapons from his side, Ghaku threw his Planar Edge Axe at the beast, grabbing her attention. Even the dragon's knife-like claws and flaming breath could not penetrate the tower of steel that was the orc warrior. Pure determination (or perhaps stubbornness) was all that kept Ghaku in his place, few men alive could stand the sight of one of the largest dragons in existence bearing down directly on to them. He scarcely had time to attack, for the fury of the bitch kept him defending at every move. More than once she turned to attack a more vulnerable target, but such an opportunity was taken to hit her where it hurt, returning her attention to the warrior. Unotos sprinted towards the beast, his mighty Bone-grinder brandished and ready to crush even this mighty of a foe. Above the roaring flames and clanging of steel could be heard the cackling of mages as they lit up the mountain with their magics, Shambler's face covered in his trollish tattoos lit up with fire as he channeled pure energy in to destruction.

Onyxia roared in pain, shaking the cavern tremendously, causing many of the overhanging rocks to collapse down upon the bitch. The air was filled with black blood, as the beast rose from the ground to destroy the band of Bloodrite from the air. As she rose, Bogorne was caught upon her tail and thrown deep in to the whelp caves. "Bogorne got flung in to the whelps!" cried out Fairbanks, shrill as ever. Bog's eyes opened wide alone in the middle of several hundred pulsing black eggs. But not alone for long. Quickly shifting in to his crow form, the druid flew back towards the group. Unfortunately, he brought along with him many whelps. To add torture to discomfort, soon the crew was bombarded from above by Onyxia's flaming breath! "MANY WHELPS!" Ghaku shouted out. Gronck's blade it seemed was everywhere, wherever there was a dragon whelp to be spawned there was the assassin to put it down. Along-side him was his brother in arms, shield flying and his Defender blazing with speed. "Nothing we can't handle!" cried out the Bloody Prince, battle was what Ghaku lived and breathed, and so long as the blood ran he was where he belonged. The cavern blared with heat as everyone could hear the bitch queen take a sudden breath intake, "Get down!" shouted out the Blood Knight, as fire cascaded throughout the mountain, Onyxia's deep breath was devastating. Ghaku, at her side tried to drag her to the cave's walls, lost grip of her during the chaos. Though most of the group remained unscathed, the bleeding body of Fellina was alone in the middle of the cavern. A silence swept over the fighters. "You left her." Gronck said coldly. "I did..." Ghaku replied somberly, "but the bitch is still up there!" he shouted out. "Tiji would have saved her..." Gronck whispered after him. The bloodied warrior halted in his steps, "She isn't here, Gronck, don't say that name around me." he replied, with pain in his voice. "Its true, she never would have left Fellina, and she wouldn't let her rage control her like it does to you!" Gronck shouted after him. "The bitch up and left us!" Ghaku turned, yelling at his comrade, "She abandoned us! She abandoned ME!" he said blinking back tears. "Hey mon," Shambler interrupted the pair, "You don't be knowin' that, we all saw Tiji get lost in da Caverns of Time! She be stuck in that hellish battle of da elves, mon!" the mage went on, trying to remind them of the slightly more urgent matters at hand. "She'd be back by now..." Ghaku said as he kneeled over his elven friend's body. Bogorne pulled the warrior up, the druid's typically jovial face was calm and concentrated. "By the power of the Earth Mother..." he whispered, as a shining light enveloped Fellina's smoldering body, mending her wounds and restoring her life. "Rebirth!" cried out the tauren.

Another bounding crash resonated throughout the mountain as Onyxia landed with one intent in mind: destroy those still standing. The orcs, understanding that matters had to be put aside, ran towards where the bitch landed. The fighters marched as the air burned around them, Ghaku grabbed his Sun Eater longsword from his back and hurled it at the beast, carving itself in to the dragon's chest. Onyxia roared with pain, but there was little she could do but unleash her bellowing roar. Still an effective weapon despite her injury, the roar delivered fear itself in to the Horde. All that stood still were Ghaku, tears down his face mingling with blood both of the dragon and his own, and the bitch herself. "Smash!!" Ghaku roared. "SMASH!!!" Gronck replied with a roar. Together they cried out in unison, tearing the sword out of her chest, the Dragon Queen's still beating heart along with it.

Ghaku collapsed to the ground, he ached everywhere and then some, but it was the ache of battle, the ache that felt more home to him than anywhere else. The fighters of Bloodrite slowly gathered around the corpse of the black leviathan. "Excsssselent..." Smoldersoul whispered, rummaging around for an Onyxian egg to take home to study. The grim tauren warrior closed his eyes and smiled, Unotos always loved a good brawl, removing his mighty Bone-grinder from a large tauren-shaped hole in Onyxia's body. The lanky troll mage was busy giggling to himself as he eyed over the pile of loot that had yet to be divvied out. Gronck strolled over to Fairbanks' unconscious body, the dead priest having fainted sometime during the battle, the tauren kicked him in the shins softly before slinging him over his shoulder. Still holding Fellina's unconscious form, Bogorne nudged Ghaku, giving him a warm smile. "It wasn't you." he reassured the orc. Ghaku nodded and smiled softly, not feeling any the better. The motley crew of Bloodrite strolled out in to the dark of the warm Kalimdor night, each with a new shiny toy from Onyxia's treasure horde to play with.

* * *

The orc gazed across the war-city of Orgrimmar, dried blood and tears still covering his unwashed face. His dark red hair was darker still for the black blood that it had washed in throughout the day. Sitting next to his long-time friend, the Frostwolf Howler, he closed his eyes and dreamt of a world where his sword was always awash with the bodies of his enemies, a world where the Bloody Prince would be at home. A hand landed lightly on his shoulder, Ghaku didn't hear anyone approach, being lost in his own dream. He looked up slowly to meet the smiling face of his brother in arms. Neither said a word, neither needed to, Gronck nodded and sat down next to him.

"So, you come here often?"


	7. The Summoning Ch5

_**The Summoning**_

The orc frantically searched his pockets, "Where is it?!" he exclaimed to himself, patting every inch of his body looking for the small wooden box. "If I lost it we're all… oh there it is," his arms coming to a stop in the depths of his plate armor, the tiny package in his grasp. Relocating the box to a more easily found place, in a pocket on the left side of his chest, the orc could feel it every time his heart beat against it. Looking up, he noticed several of the Draenei inhabitants were staring at him. He was, after all, in the middle of their terrace in Shattrath City. A city of ancient architecture and golden spires, Shattrath was a beautiful place; it had been his home ever since the warrior's journey in to the Outlands. Ignoring the odd looks he received, the orc warrior continued on to the continually rising and plummeting elevator on the Aldor Rise. Ghaku stared uncomfortably down from the top of the lift; he'd had an unfortunate tendency to miss and plummet to the bottom, on more than one occasion.

Every few steps the orc took, he had to take a moment to reassure himself that his oh-so-important package was still there, feeling all the better when he touched the box. The feeling only lasted a few moments until he had to check again, and so this went until he reached the center of the ancient city. The glimmerings of the nearby Naaru momentarily awed the warrior, and were he not so intent upon his journey that day, Ghaku would have taken a moment to submit himself to the peaceful aura that surrounded the light-blessed beings. Another day, perhaps, when _she_ stood beside him, the orc thought. The horde battle-standards at one corner of the temple caught his eye, the glowing of a trio of portals shimmering calmly against it. Ghaku walked up to them, taking a moment to make certain that his possession was still in his hold. "Orgrimmar… Orgrimmar…" he pondered out loud. "I belieff zhat you are looking for the portal een zhe middle," interrupted the thick-accented Draenei mage, who was attending the Shattrath portals. Ghaku stared at her for a moment, caught in his own thinking. He nodded, and plunged himself in to the shimmering mass that was to carry him to the Orcish war-city.

* * *

_ "Yes, there is much that we will need for the summoning ritual._" _The warlock had told them,_ _"A part of Tiji, so that we may focus on to her point of existence. That will be for you, 'Oh Bloody Prince'. We will certainly need a part of those that took her, so that we may bypass the wards in place, and enter the timeway; dear assassin I believe that you would be most expert for that particular piece. And, perhaps most importantly, we will need a conduit, something of demonic energy, something to create a gateway to the Battle of Hyjal. I am uncertain what would accomplish this, but I will manage to find something. Lastly, we will need a seer to guide us in this summoning, there will be much that seeks to impede our progress, and she will guide us in a path to avert such barriers. My dear wife, though her soundness of mind is questionable, will be adept in this undertaking._

* * *

The warrior paced across the endless sands of the Tanaris desert. It seemed like it was only days previous that he had made the journey alongside his matron, though in fact months had passed in the time it had taken to acquire what was needed for the ritual. Absentmindedly, he checked his breast pocket for the box. It was still there, good, to lose it at this point meant they would never achieve what they would soon begin. Ghaku was almost surprised that he was able to make his way through the abyssal dunes, soon he could see the mountains looming above him in the distance, and he knew that nestled within them was his destination, the Caverns of Time.

Had the pair not be uncannily adept at the art of hiding, they surely would have been noticed. Crouching on a great tree branch among the grassy hills for which it the area was named, the orc huddled close to her companion. "It's just weird," she whispered to the large lion next to her, "I've been here before, but this is before even then, isn't it?" The form of the massive feline shifted and glimmered as it transformed in to a tall, black-furred Tauren. His eyebrow quirked in as if to agree with the rogue, "The irony of the situation is not lost on me, Rhaka. Hillsbrad was not as such when I last visited, either. But this isn't the Hillsbrad that we remember; it is an image of the past." Rhaka nodded at the druid. The two had ventured in to one of the time passages beneath the Caverns of the Bronze Dragonflight, to the past, before the third war of Azeroth. Rage Earthfury poked his orcish companion gently, pointing towards the village before them. "There's the patrol…" he whispered. Nodding, the rogue jumped down from their post in the tree, stealthily hiding amongst the grass, the druid following behind her.

The human had shifty black eyes, odd for one of his race. He moved strangely, haltingly as if unaccustomed to his own body. A sudden cracking noise from the grass caught his attention, and the man's head snapped to the side to see what had caused it. Moving up to investigate, he was caught unawares by the unexpected bludgeoning to the back of his head, the assassin having struck him with hard, steel hilt of her dagger, knocking the man unconscious. "Let us see what's under _your_ skin…" Rhaka mused quietly to herself, flipping her glowing blade around to his throat. "You're certain this is one of them, I hope," interrupted her druid friend. "Of course it is!" the orc exclaimed, "I mean, just look at him… he's weird." The assassin clearly had no qualms about such things, long having been accustomed to this practice. With an adept slice, her sharp edge quickly pierced the gullet of the unfortunate patroller. The man's form quickly surged and began to change before the bewildered eyes of the stealthy pair, reforming to shape an unusual black dragon. Slumping to the ground, the corpse fell directly on top of the rogue, who hadn't expected this to happen, and pinned her to the ground. "Oof!" she exclaimed, wheezing, "I don't remember humans being this heavy!" Rage eyed the body aloofly, "So he wasn't human, after all."

With a characteristically nondescript face, the tauren pulled the massive body of the dragon off of his comrade. "This will take some time to get back to the caverns…" he thought aloud. Rhaka pulled out her other dagger with a grin, "We could take him in pieces!" The tauren chuckled quietly, "I think Aesgar would prefer the body be intact." Rage's form glimmered as it shifted, taking the shape of a massive brown bear. He gestured his furry head towards the cave from which they had entered the Old Hillsbrad Foothills, dragging the draconic body with his massive claws.

The corpse whistled merrily as he strolled down in to the earth. Taking a moment to wave at the massive bronze wyrm that guarded the entrance, Aesgar Reth ambled down in to the Caverns of Time, toting a large brown sack as he walked. Behind him, an unusually pale woman with turquoise hair gaped at the magnificent sights around her. Opening her mouth as if to ask a question, Aesgar answered without even turning around to see her do it. "No dear, you aren't having visions. Yes dear, those ARE floating meteors in space over there." The warlock was accustomed to such things. The undead couple journeyed deep in to the caverns, until in the distance they could see a noticeably impatient, massive orcish man waiting for them within a floating violet rune circle. "You're here! I've been waiting for ages!" exclaimed the warrior. "Yes, spending any amount of time within these caverns can feel like that. Your sister, I assume, is here as well?" asked the dead man walking. Ghaku shrugged, "I can never tell, you know her…" The warlock arched an eyebrow (which nobody saw beneath his stylin' hat), "Indeed. I do hope she isn't lost, I would like to get started." The warrior nodded at him, "What's in the bag?"

"Oh. You're here. Wonderful," Elusin exclaimed almost sarcastically, noting the approach of the last of the two to arrive. Rage, still dragging the massive corpse behind him, didn't say much. Aesgar raised his head, an evil glint in his eyes, "Excellent. The ritual will begin. I do hope you are all ready; it would not surprise me if the Infinite were to assault us at this time. We're about to bend the folds of reality, that sort of thing tends to attract unwanted guests…" Reaching a hand towards his pocket, Ghaku let out a sigh of relief, the box was still there. The warlock began to speak in a cryptic unknown language, as glimmering lights rose around him. "Dagrot! Attend me!" he shouted out, as the form of a miniscule imp appeared, flames rose around his tiny form. The demon bickered for a moment, muttering about interrupting "alone time", and something about a succubus, but quickly silenced after a particularly cold look from his summoner. Aesgar extended a skeletal finger towards the orc warrior, "_Something of the sought!_" his shrill voice carried throughout the caverns. Reluctantly, Ghaku removed the package from inside his armor, a box containing a lock of red hair, his mother's. The dead man motioned towards the bright verdant rune circle that was forming around them; Ghaku tossed down the lock of hair to the center. Nodding, the warlock continued, "_Something of those that bind her!_" his voice echoed around them. A quick slicing and slurping sound from behind them turned the group's attention towards the Infinite dragon's corpse. Rhaka, her face cold and impassive, had removed the head with her many blades. Passing it off to the druid, Rage dumped the beasts head on to the middle of the pile.

Aesgar's voice grew ever louder and more powerful as the ritual continued, "_Something to bind them, something to create the path!_" he called out; gesturing towards the large bag he had been carrying. Picking it up gently, his wife passed it off to the warlock, her eyes wide with anticipation. Removing the bulky item, a large, pulsating green heart, Aesgar withdrew the curved dagger from his side, plunging it in to the unusual relic. It was the heart of an infernal, a terrifying demonic creation. Holding it over the ritual pile, the oozing green blood dripped from the heart, saturating the head and the lock of hair with fel energy. As he slowly passed the dagger to his wife at his side, he yelled out fiercely, "_And finally, something to guide the way!_" The cavern rumbled as the group huddled around the circle. Elusin, her hands trembling, brought the knife up to her own pale arm, cutting it deep in to her skin. What was left of the little blood that remained in her body poured out in to the growing pile of ritual components, mingling with the green demon blood around it all. And then the rumbling ceased, nothing happened. Looking around desperately, Ghaku waited for some sign of success. "Well?!" he cried out, staring at the now-bloodied pile, the lock of hair catching his eye. Ghaku was torn; the last remaining tie to his mother now lay lifeless upon the underground sands.

A piercing howl filled the air, as shadowy figures materialized around them. Screaming draconic figures assaulted the group, as they were beset upon by silvery-black forms from all directions. One bowled in to Elusin, the priest dropping the still bloody ritual knife as she was knocked to the ground. Aesgar's eyes grew wide as he saw his wife's beaten form, raising his skeletal hands to the air, glowing with power. Fire rained down upon the dragons from above, as shadowy energy filled them with pain. The warlock raised a trembling arm towards one of the attackers, the dragon's body convulsing with boils as it fell to the ground, steaming until it ceased to move. The rogue had already sprung in to action, knives in every direction as she stared with fiery eyes at those who had interrupted the ritual.

The loud rumbling had recommenced as an even larger, gargantuan figure emerged from the cavern depths. Bronze scales were alight with the colors of the ritual circle, as the massive dragon flew towards the group, her talons ready to spring in to the shadowy invaders. Pushing her way towards the group, Tiridormi's hands glowed with magical energy as she touched the ritual pile. Grabbing for the dagger that had been dropped, Tiridormi carved it in to her own forearm, silvery blood mixing with the Infernal and Elusin's. A massive tear in the ground appeared, as a shimmering green portal erupted from the earth beneath them. "Hyjal!" she cried out. All eyes turned towards the growing rift as the great bronze motioned towards it. "This won't last for long, so if you're set in this course of action, go NOW!" Ghaku nodded, tears in his eyes, and flung his armored form towards the verdant portal. The others followed the orc warrior; the last to enter was the skeletal warlock, his ghoulish wife held at his side. "You do not know the good that you have done this day…" he whispered to the Bronze as he too was swept through the rift. The dragon shook her bestial head, "I have walked this day's path many times, I alone understand what _you_ are doing for _me_…" but the warlock had already gone. Barring her teeth, Tiridormi continued her destruction of the never-ending invaders.


	8. The Shattering Ch6

_**The Shattering**_

Aesgar cursed loudly in gutterspeak as he crashed through the turbulent, unstable portal on to the ground below. A large, armor-plated arm was extended to him, as the warrior helped him up to his feet. "Well now, we're really here aren't we," Aesgar said, as if stating something quite plain and usual. His companions were noticeably worried, "How can you be so damn calm? We're years in the past, nearing the battlefield that almost saw the destruction of the entire world!" Rhaka blurted out to the warlock. Aesgar raised an eyebrow almost as if to challenge that, "Dear assassin, I am no stranger to traveling through to extra-dimensional planes of existence; a small thing like time-travel is no surprise to me." Ghaku peered around searchingly; they were at the summit of the mountain, a relatively small Night-Elf encampment lay just below them, flanking the largest monster of a tree that the warrior had ever seen. "The World Tree…" Rage exclaimed, reverently, falling to one knee. "Oh get up," Elusin said sarcastically, she would have rolled her eyes if they hadn't rotted and fallen out years ago. The five began their slow descent down the mountain, towards the great tree. A loud thumping echoed in the distance as they climbed, the sun shown high as it neared its zenith.

High Priestess Tyrande shouted orders to the few that remained of the armed forces that guarded the world tree, Nordrassil. The Night-Elf woman sighed; these were the last of her archers and ancients that could be sent to protect that which mattered most, and the Burning Legion was approaching ever-nearer. A sudden outburst from the outer edges of the camp brought her attention. "Scourge?! I'm a goddamn forsaken! Night elves… I swear…" screeched an unusual raspy woman's voice. Tyrande slung herself over her white nightsaber tiger and sped off towards the disturbance. A very strange group of people were trying to enter her camp, and the warden guards were preventing them access. "Alright listen there elfy, I'm big, strong, and **impossible to reason with**, it would be in your best interest to just _let me through_!" but the stoic warden would not give way to the massive orc warrior. "Who are these people?" the High Priestess demanded, "As if we don't have enough issues…" A tall, calm Tauren man saluted the woman, bowing slightly, "Priestess, we have come to bring the help of the Horde, but we cannot if you will not allow us to do so." Tyrande cocked an eyebrow quizzically, "If you're from the Horde, then why do you come alongside the undead? We've been fighting the Scourge bastards every step up the mountain, if you hadn't noticed!" Elusin coughed uncomfortably, "Undead is such a harsh phrase; we prefer the term '_Mortally-Challenged_…" the ghoulish woman muttered. "_Previously-Living_," her zombified husband nodded in agreeance. Rhaka smiled weakly, "They're really very nice people, very non-evil…" The High Priestess sighed, "I don't have time for this. We need all the help we can get; you can accompany this next group of sentinels." Tyrande jabbed a finger towards a nearby group of warrior-women, bows slung across their shoulders. The pale-green skin of the Night-Elves almost blended them in with the grass as they journeyed down towards Nordrassil. "Whatever you're doing has to work, Malfurion…" Tyrande sighed as the group left.

The loud thumping that had escorted their descent had turned in to an echoing thunder by this point, something was coming, and for once in his life Ghaku was terrified. A gargantuan grey giant erupted from the edge of the warrior's vision; the being's massive form scarcely had room to move in the mountain pass. Rune-covered bronze armor embraced the colossal, making its appearance even fiercer still. Glowing fel-green eyes scanned the horizon, settling on the World-Tree. The demon smirked, his horrific macabre face grinning wickedly. The group had almost reached their destination, but even though there wasn't much farther to go it was evident to the warrior that the demon would reach the tree with his massive stride before they did. In the distance, there was only one figure standing between the demon and the last hope that Azeroth had against the Burning Legion. If the World Tree was destroyed, all mortals would soon follow. The colossal eyed the individual, wondering who would be foolish enough to impede his path. The sun burned brightly overhead, now reaching its apex, its glimmering beams of light gripped the figure, a tall blue-skinned woman that stood with determination against the world's coming twilight.

* * *

Archimonde sneered cruelly; his bellowing voice reverberated throughout the mountain peak, "_**Had I known how pitiful and weak this world had become, I would have launched this invasion ages ago!**_" The monstrous lieutenant of the legion raised a deadly hand towards the remaining night-elves, "_**Let the echoes of doom resound across this wretched world, that all who live may hear them and despair!**_" Speeding his walk to a charge, Archimonde rushed towards his objective, his conquest lay just before him. The shaman kneeled down before the approaching evil, her lips giving fervent whisperings to the earth. The woman clenched her staff tightly as her simple dress began to shimmer and change, fire engulfed her as her skin became as molten armor, her weapon reformed in to her blazing spear. Tiji rose, knowing that the elements were hers to influence and direct in the coming battle.

Ghaku ran as fast as his encumbering armor would allow him, his companions not far behind. "Do you really think this is a battle we can win?" his sister called out to him, breathing heavily as they dashed. The warrior closed his eyes and head his hung for a moment, "I don't know. I do not know if this is a battle we can win, or even if we will live through it. I don't think we will. What I do know is that this is a battle we must win, and my own coming mortality is not enough to deter me from fighting it." She nodded to him, knowing that he was right. "I refuse to hide in the corners of the world, waiting for the inevitable end to come! I am the Bloody Prince, and my legacy _**will be**_ glorious death!"

"_**You are the insignificant defenders of a doomed world! The Legion has come and there is nothing that can stand in its path of carnage!**_" Bearing down upon the shaman came the demonic monstrosity that was Archimonde. A gargantuan mailed fist swiped down towards her with frightening speed, but Tiji had erected an earthen shield to block the demons attack. Crumbing, the rock barrier fell back to the ground, but Tiji was already somewhere else. A glint shone in the troll's eye as a bolt of lightning erupted from her hands, striking the demon in the chest. Archimonde grinned wickedly, raising his ash-like arms to the sky. "_**This world will burn!**_" he cried out, striking the ground, his hands gleaming with fire. Doom crept out from the depths of the earth as flames erupted towards the shaman, searing the ground in a twisting snake-like path. Tiji reached towards her sides, retrieving many totemic staves from seemingly nowhere. Casting them at the coming fire, the totems instead took the form of numerous blazing elementals. The newly-spawned inferno creatures struck mercilessly at their demonic attacker, searing Archimonde's already blackened-like limbs.

The giant howled, "_**There are yet more of you?! Your souls will languish for an eternity!**_" Behind the battling duo came the remaining forces of the sentinels, and Tiji's own kin. The troll's eyes widened, "Children?! You should na have come!" "Yeah, and you shouldn't have been kidnapped by an enigmatic dragonflight bent on destroying time itself, so in the future lets do things differently!" Aesgar called back sarcastically. Archimonde flailed his sundering fists towards the fire-spawns, crushing them one by one. Tiji snapped her attention back towards the ostensibly unstoppable evil, lowering her head to the ground. _Earth! Rise up against this defiler!_ She called out to the elements. The land around the demon began to shift and change, creating a crevice where evil stood. Archimonde let out a fearsome shout as his legs sunk in to the cold, hostile soil. Even still, the earth altered itself in an affront to the giant. Rocks likened their form to the ancient trees that fought alongside the night-elves, becoming as giants ready to assault the lieutenant of the Burning Legion. Crushing their stone limbs in to him, Archimonde yelled fiercely at the earthen constructs. Seizing one of the stone giants, the gargantuan demon hurled it towards the sentinels. Though many of them attempted to leap out of the way of the crushing boulders, many still were overwhelmed and destroyed by the earth that they so reverently adored. The Eredar pointed a malicious finger towards one of the remaining archers, a bolt of shadowy energy enveloping her. The elf's form crumbled, and forth from it came a silvery cloud of shifting essences, speeding through the air towards the Defiler.

Archimonde grasped the essence in his demonic palm, whispering malignant thoughts to the world, "_**Do you know the power of a soul? I've long forgotten… ever since I gave mine for supremacy. THIS is power!**_" Grasping his fingers around the soul that was attempting to escape his grip, Archimonde tore it asunder, obliterating the soul quite explosively. The shockwave that immediately followed was enough to send every mortal to the ground, knocking them down. The giant gazed upon those still living with a ponderous eye. Settling upon Aesgar, he bellowed a voice that was heard across the land, "_**A warlock is it? A damned soul? Tell me little warlock, you like demons, don't you?**_" Raising his hands to form arcane runes in the air, the Eredar cackled malevolently. A frantic burrowing could be heard in all directions, as the earth around them erupted. Sickly blood-red hounds rose from the depths, black tendrils rose from their body accompanied by ivory-white horns. Fel hounds. Aesgar Reth sighed, before he was promptly set upon by dozens and dozens of devouring demons. A waning purple light shot forth from the pile that assault the warlock, spidery demonic chanting was heard even beneath the ravaging hounds.

A strange humming could be heard in the distance, as thousands of gleaming lights encircled the World Tree. Wisps. Recovering from the blast wave that had knocked the troll to the ground, Tiji grasped her yet-unused weapon, the blazing lance. Taking a moment to give an unspoken request to the spirit of Air, Tiji hurled the javelin towards the enormous Eredar, the wind guiding her spear to strike true. Piercing his gargantuan body, Archimonde cried out in rage as the burning spear shot pain throughout his massive body. To add torture to discomfort, the Defiler could hear the cackling of the undead warlock, shouting out to him. "_Oh Archimonde_", Aesgar called out mockingly, "You like demons, don't you?" Through his fel magics, Aesgar Reth had ensorcelled the ravaging felhounds with his own demonic power, turning them against their former master. Though he held himself raggedly and bled from every limb, Aesgar grinned with malicious satisfaction as he watched the demons tear in to the Eredar with the pain that had recently been visited upon him. Archimonde snarled, "_**Your resistance is insignificant!**_" as he tore out the fiery spike from his torso, fel-green blood pouring from his wound. Using his own energy, Archimonde commanded the weapon to grow to suit his own size, and with a blazing sweep he pushed back and destroyed the assaulting demons.

The blazing sun painted the scene in an eerily bloody glow. The Eredar's eyes were as fire as he stared down the mortals that had dared to face him. Heaving the radiant lance to the sky, it burned with renewed vigor and intensity as he raised it to strike at the group. "_**This world WILL BURN!**_" he shouted out once again, the mountain trembled at his ruthless voice. Hurling the spike with the strength of millennia of warfare and conquest, the air screamed as the missile flew towards the shaman. Blinded by the brilliance of the red sun, she did not see the coming doom, the spear pierced armor, flesh and bone.

Tiji's sun shattered.

* * *

What was once a faint humming in the distance was now an agonizing buzzing from the gathering wisps upon Nordrassil. Certain, now, that his conquest was within his grasp, Archimonde bounded towards the world tree, ignoring those that still stood. Running up to her mother's now motionless body, Rhaka's eyes were as flowing as the great rivers of Azeroth as she knelt over the troll's body. The rogue let out a sudden cry as a silvery red cloud of shifting essences emerged from her mother's remains, drifting towards the Eredar. Tiji's soul. Extending a massive blackened arm greedily, Archimonde reached for the essence as his other arm wrapped around the massive world tree. In his desire, the demon did not see the many thousand wisps creeping towards the limb that desecrated Nordrassil, and soon the crashing wave of shimmering beings were sweeping over his entire body. Turning back his head in surprise of this new trick, Archimonde's fel-green eyes lit up with fury as his form was enveloped with the many wisps, one for every mortal that had fallen that day, one soul for every life ended with invasion of the Burning Legion.

The many wisps engulfed his form until there was nothing left but the blinding light. Howling, Archimonde still refused to release his grasp upon the World Tree, intent on his destruction of all mortality. Ghaku covered his eyes from the sight that seared itself in to his memory, the screaming Eredar commander was a vision that he would never forget. With a vast all-encompassing flare, a powerful explosion rocked the world as Archimonde the Defiler, was purged from existence.

* * *

The now-blackened bronze armor was all that remained of the once-fearsome lieutenant of the Burning Legion, the left-hand of Sargeras the Destroyer. Those souls that had emerged unscathed through the terrible ordeal rose high in to the air, free from their burden. Among them was the soul of the troll shaman, her spirit flew high in to the Twisting Nether above, her soul refused to be weakened by the wearing sands of time. 


	9. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

A shadow flew across the grassy plains of Nagrand. Beautiful bronze scales adorned the dragon's body as its immense form swiftly pierced through the sky. She circled downward as she slowly made her descent. Smoke erupted from the Orcish settlement on the ground, many murkblood Broken ran about wildly, seizing what they could from the ravaged hamlet. On the docks of the village sat a small child, tears streaming down his emerald-green skin as he gazed in to the water, the bodies of his people strewn throughout. The bronze dragon made her landing in the center of the village, blowing large clouds of dust in all directions that scared off the pillaging murkbloods. She strode through the village, claws flashing as her draconic form dispatched the invaders. Pacing up to the dock, the dragon's form shimmered and changed, slowly shrinking in to the form of a woman in emblazoned bright blue armor.

Tall silvery spires erupted from her armored shoulders, a glowing blue light embracing them. A dark blue mask stretched across her lower face, a plated head-guard above it holding a glimmering violet gem above her glowing eyes. The woman smiled, a radiant smile that shown through her Skyshatter Raiment. Turning to face her, the orc child sputtered out, "Who're you?" She knelt down, putting a hand on his shoulder, her soothing voice washed over him,_ "Hello child, my name is Tiridormi, but you may call me Tiji."_


End file.
